BREST-LITOVSK (in Polish Brzesc, and in the chronicles Berestie and Berestoff). a town of Russia, in the government of Grodno, and 131 miles S. from the city of that name, in 52° 5' N. lat. and 23° 39' E. long., at the junction of the navigable river Mukhovetz with the Bug. It contains two or three Greek churches, a Roman Catholic church, a Jewish synagogue—which was regarded in the 16th century as the first in Europe, a monastery, a public hospital, a Jewish almshouse, an important provision storehouse, a custom-house, and a wharf. Brest is the seat of an Armenian bishop, who has authority over the Armenians throughout the whole country; and since 1841 the “Alexander” cadette-corps has been stationed in the town. The industries of the place are comparatively unimportant, but it carries on a very extensive and varied trade by means of its rivers and the Royal Canal. The principal articles of the traffic are grain, flax, hemp, wood, birch-tar, and leather. The population numbered 19,343 in I860, 3394 being Catholics, and 10,320 Jews. In 1867 the total had risen to 22,493....
First mentioned in the beginning of the 11th century, Brest continued to pass from one principality to another till 1392, when it was incorporated with Poland. In 1241 it had been laid waste by Tatars, and was not restored till 1275; its suburbs were burned by the Teutonic knights in 1379, and in the end of the 15th century the whole town met a similar fate at the hands of Mengly-Gherai of the Crimea. In the reign of Sigismund diets were held in Brest; and in 1594 and 1596, it was the meeting-place of two remarkable councils of the bishops of Western Russia. In 1706 the town was captured by the Swedes; in 1793 it was added to the Russian empire; and in 1794 was the scene of Suwaroff's victory over the Polish general Sierakofsky.
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